Three ski resorts in south central Pennsylvania will soon be under new ownership.
Vail Resorts, a mountain resort company based in Colorado, announced Monday in a news release that it has entered into a merger agreement with Peak Resorts to acquire its 17 ski area, including Roundtop Mountain Resort in York County, Liberty Mountain Resort in Adams County and Whitetail Resort in Franklin County.
The transaction, worth approximately $264 million, is expected to close in the fall.
“We are incredibly excited to have the opportunity to add such a powerful network of ski areas to our Company,” said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts. “Peak Resorts’ ski areas in the Northeast are a perfect complement to our existing resorts and together will provide a very compelling offering to our guests in New York and Boston. With this acquisition, we are also able to make a much stronger connection to guests in critical cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest and build on the success we have already seen with our strategy in Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit. The acquisition fully embodies our philosophy of Epic for Everyone, making skiing and riding more accessible to guests across the U.S. and around the world.”
Vail Resorts said in the news release that the company plans to retain the vast majority of each resort’s employees.
“Vail Resorts has a proven track record of celebrating the unique identity of its resorts, while continually investing in the guest and employee experience. For this reason, we are confident that our resorts and employees will continue to thrive within the Vail Resorts network,” said Timothy Boyd, president and chief executive officer of Peak Resorts. “We are very proud of our track record over the last two decades in building the breadth, quality and accessibility of our resorts. We are thrilled that our guests will now have access to some of the world’s most renowned resorts.”
The news release states that when the transaction closes, Vail Resorts will honor and continue to sell all Peak Resorts pass products. Peak Resorts’ pass holders will also have the opportunity to upgrade to an Epic Pass or Epic Local Pass. More information can be found here.
